Ben L’Ecuyer (left) and Sutton’s David Stuart prepare for a pass. (Photo by John Sharko)
Sam Elkind (left) sprints toward the ball in an attempt to beat out Sutton’s Todd McDevitt. (Photo by Katy Sharko)
From left: Jack Landry, Ryan Kennedy, Brian McCullough, Sutton’s Haydn Melia, and Mark Ferguson defend the goal. (Photo by John Sharko)
The Bromfield varsity soccer team suffered a 0-1 loss against the Sutton Sammies last Friday, Oct. 21, at the Depot Road field. Their second loss of the year puts Bromfield’s record at 11-2-1.
Last year, the Sammies outplayed the Trojans with a similar 1-0 victory during the regular season match, but lost to Bromfield by the same margin during the district final game. This year, Bromfield’s rival came back with a skilled offensive, as the speed of Sutton’s strikers was unmatched by their Bromfield counterparts.
The first 15 minutes of the game were under definitive Sutton control, with the Trojans scrambling to keep the Sammies away from the net. Just five minutes in, Sutton’s Riley Steele lobbed a corner kick perfectly to Hayden Melia, who chipped the ball into the hands of Bromfield sophomore keeper Ryan Kennedy.
Sutton continued to press against Bromfield’s defense, as Melia bulleted the ball from midfield at 11 minutes, 50 seconds, back into Kennedy’s possession. Just one minute later, Sutton’s Gordy Smythe sprinted outside the left side of Bromfield’s net, and smashed the ball with tremendous force. The kick was effectively deflected by an instinctive body leap by senior Mitchell William.
Melia attempted another midfield shot 23 minutes in, but it lost speed quickly and went into Kennedy’s possession. Thirty seconds later, Steele tested Kennedy’s blocking abilities with a power-charged kick, only to have the ball deflected off the tips of the keeper’s fingers.
As the game heated up, both teams took drastic chances to attempt a shot at goal. Smythe dribbled the ball right outside Bromfield’s net, and as he prepared for an energetic thrust, sophomore left midfielder Ben L’Ecuyer slide tackled his opponent, who accidentally tripped over L’Ecuyer’s leg and suffered a minor injury.
Again and again, the first half was dominated by Sutton’s attempts, which were subsequently blocked by Kennedy’s fast reflexes. Bromfield was unable to gain any ground against Sutton, leaving the Trojans on the defensive until the second half.
In the 47th minute, Bromfield junior right midfielder Lucas Hickock popped a corner kick to senior center midfielder Brenton Stoddart, whose attempt at goal was blocked out by Sutton’s defense. Just minutes later, Stoddart ripped the ball through the air, but it was interrupted by Melia’s body block.
A few minutes later, the results of the game almost changed drastically when Sutton’s keeper lost control of a tumbling ball he swiped out of the air and desperately halted it from slipping into his own goal.
Stoddart shot a direct free kick in the 60th minute while his opponents were still preparing. Off guard, Sutton’s keeper barely managed to gather himself to stop the ball.
The turning point of the game arrived with just 14 minutes left. As Bromfield senior right defender Jack Landry lunged for the ball outside the Bromfield net, Smythe sprinted adjacent to him. Kennedy ran out to secure the ball at the edge of his goal box, only for Smythe to pop the ball upward into the top left corner of the net.
Bromfield made strides to equalize, but were unable to break through Sutton’s tough defense.
“[We had] a lousy first half,” said Bromfield coach Tom Hill. “We did play very, very well in the second half. We just never tested [their] defense that much. Our defense was under an awful lot of pressure.”
Stoddart agreed with his coach.
“In the first half, I think the team was nervous being the favorite and it showed in our sluggish play,” he said. “Our passing wasn’t refined, and we turned over the ball too many times. In the second half, we picked up our play and despite conceding a goal I thought we played up to our potential… Sutton is a great team. I’d say we are evenly matched heading into playoffs… Next time we know what we will be up against and won’t make the same mistakes of taking them lightly.”
